axle rating

CAT scale:
Steer Axle - 4900 lbs
Drive Axle - 6060 lbs
Trailer Axle - 9220 lbs
Gross Weight - 20,180 lbs

Trailer GVWR 12,380 lbs

The factories all calculate the GVWR based on the weakest link as the truck is configured at the factory. This includes the leaf springs that are installed. The AAM axles and wheel bearings used on GM/Chevy 3500 trucks is rated at 10,900 lbs. by the manufacturer.

My 2011 Chevy truck has the same frame and suspension and the rear weight when new was 2860 lbs. with the front at 4380 lbs. and a total truck weight of 7240 lbs. before I did any modifications. The front with the engine weighs a lot more than the bed as one would expect. Conversely when I have put a 3400 lb. load in the bed it added only 100 lbs. to the load on the front of the truck.

Usually a crew cab adds 200 lbs. of weight and it is split between the front and rear wheels. However, the extra passenger seats results in a 150 lb. per seat reduction in the factory payload rating.

I know many people who tow 5th wheel trailers with 2500 pickups and with zero problems. I see this on the highways as well and during trips I keep a tally of how many trucks I see towing 5th wheel trailers have SRW or DRW trucks and it is always 4 to 1 with more than 80% of the trucks having SRW. No surprise if you do the math.

Take two wheels with tires rated at 3750@80 PSI and you have a potential to carry a 7500 load minus the 3,000 lbs. for the truck or 4500 lbs. and if the truck is going to support 25% of the 5th wheels wet weight that translates into a trailer weighing up to 18,000 lbs. which covers 100% of the travel trailers.

People in the cab do not add significantly to the load on the rear axle and that is all you need to worry about. Take your truck to a CAT scale and get the weights at the front and rear wheels measured. Then add 400 lbs. to the rear of the crew cab and go back to the CAT scale and get the truck weighed again. Then you will know your situation exactly.

I replaced my factory supplied tires that were rated at 3195@80 PSI with ones rated at 3750 lb. and gained 1100 lbs. of payload at the rear wheels. Total cost for the change out was under $500. I spent another $445 for a set of SuperSprings to increase the load that the truck could handle up to 5,000 lbs. which was more than enough.

Air bags are an option but I prefer using the SuperSprings as there is nothing to adjust and nothing to break. If I were to lose only one of the two air bags on a trip it would be a serious problem.

I read a posting online the other day by someone with a C2500 GM truck, and he was complaining about only having 2510 lbs. carrying capacity.

With passengers and fuel, that truck would be limited to medium size fifth wheel trailer.

My Grand Design Reflection is 11K dry weight and 2K pin weight--and maxes out my 3/4 ton SuperDuty diesel. I have plenty of towing power, and am not getting any rear end squat with AirRide air bags.

Anyone towing a full size fifth wheel would really do best to get a 1 ton dual rear wheel truck.

RAM trucks has a fun "Towing Guide" on their page. It isn't axle specific, but it still shows payload capabilities and towing capabilities by Truck Configuration and Trim Level. RAM Towing Guide. Make sure you select the Heavy Duty line of trucks since that's what you're looking for.

there's 2600-3000 pounds on the rear axle. you'll be over your gvwr before you exceed the axle rating.

I was able to look up a DRW Crewcab truck that was a BASE Truck, no extra options like leather seats, ect.

THE front axle was 4,183 and rear 2968 for a DUALLY 6 liter GAS engine.

To add the diesel option you add 633 pounds to the front axle and 66 to the rear one.

This is done for each option that you pick. I was not able to pick out the correct truck SRW in your case, however I think you might be able to. Just I don't want to spend time researching your truck. . .

So you have a "Guess" on what the rear axle weight will be on the truck you are looking at. 3,100 pounds or so. It should be within 300 pounds of that weight. (2,800 to 3,400 pounds for a single rear wheel diesel truck.)

Good luck!

Fred.

JIMNLIN wrote:

boingram wrote:
Buying a 2015 gmc denali 3500 srw crew...door plate has rear axle rating at 7050...can't find out how much of the truck wt is on rear axle...can't weight it till I buy it...is there a rule of thumb for this...duramax...thx..bo

Use this 2014 CLICKY LINK from GM. The feature doesn't come up on the 2015 models yet. It gives each individual trucks front and rear axle weights with the options you choose.
Simply click on "models and options weights" and then "weight calculator". This will get you close to your trucks as shipped weights. This doesn't take into account other necessary "junk" we put in our trucks.

Many one ton SRW trucks rear axle may weigh in the 2900-3100 lb range which leaves in the 4000 lb range for a payload.
Play around with the calculator. Wish Ford and Dodge had this feature for finding actual weights

Try this link. THe one above did not work.

http://eogld.cloud.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/weightcalc.jsp?vehicleid=14506&regionid=1&step=1

http://eogld.cloud.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/weightcalc.jsp?vehicleid=14504&regionid=1&step=1

Good luck!

Fred.

JIMNLIN wrote:

boingram wrote:
Buying a 2015 gmc denali 3500 srw crew...door plate has rear axle rating at 7050...can't find out how much of the truck wt is on rear axle...can't weight it till I buy it...is there a rule of thumb for this...duramax...thx..bo

Use this 2014 CLICKY LINK from GM. The feature doesn't come up on the 2015 models yet. It gives each individual trucks front and rear axle weights with the options you choose.
Simply click on "models and options weights" and then "weight calculator". This will get you close to your trucks as shipped weights. This doesn't take into account other necessary "junk" we put in our trucks.

Many one ton SRW trucks rear axle may weigh in the 2900-3100 lb range which leaves in the 4000 lb range for a payload.
Play around with the calculator. Wish Ford and Dodge had this feature for finding actual weights

My 1975 Ford Supercab came with a brochure listing all the possible engine combinations, and front and rear axle weight of a 'base truck'.

Then it had option weights too. So a second battery would add 65 pounds to the front axle and take away 7 from the rear axle. A second fuel tank would add 65 pounds to the front axle and 85 pounds to the rear axle. It was a basic approach to the same problem. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out my weights for my truck.

So the information is out there. You might try looking at the towing guide, and see if they list 'camper weight capacity' or maximum cargo rating.

Your rear axle might be able to support 7,000 pounds safely, however the rest of the truck is heavy too, and you can not load the rear axle to it's max rating without being well over the GVWR for a truck. The front axle weight rating might be say 5,000 pounds, and yet your GVWR could be only 11,000 pounds.

You can normally expect a diesel to have around 4,000 pounds on the front axle and 3,000 on the rear. However in the recently published test of a dually GM crewcab truck, the curb weight was around 8,800 pounds! That is pretty heavy.

Good luck!

Fred.

boingram wrote:
Buying a 2015 gmc denali 3500 srw crew...door plate has rear axle rating at 7050...can't find out how much of the truck wt is on rear axle...can't weight it till I buy it...is there a rule of thumb for this...duramax...thx..bo

Use this clicky link from GM. The feature doesn't come up on the 2015 models yet. It gives each individual trucks front and rear axle weights with the options you choose.
Simply click on "models and options weights" and then "weight calculator". This will get you close to your trucks as shipped weights. This doesn't take into account other necessary "junk" we put in our trucks.

Many one ton SRW trucks rear axle may weigh in the 2900-3100 lb range which leaves in the 4000 lb range for a payload.
Play around with the calculator. Wish Ford and Dodge had this feature for finding actual weights

clicky link edit

...excellent comments...cat scale close...if i intend to buy a $65000 tv...they can certainly let me drive it 20 miles to a scale...thx...